A tale of two marketing plans

Oct 09, 2006

A tale of two marketing plans · by Sach O

I may not understand this, but I know why your album flopped.

I don’t usually care about album sales or Soundscan because frankly they don’t represent anything concrete. Enough people download music at this point to totally void the charts as a representation of what’s currently popular in terms of new music. Consequently, Billboard and Co. mainly serve as indicators of a label’s ability to herd the mindless masses into purchasing a new Nelly Furtado CD to leverage funds for a parent corporation. While armchair A&Rs may see grave concern in the numbers posted by their favorite acts, ultimately I’m mostly interested in the actual quality of the record in question, though I do believe a few artists deserve to achieve a greater measure of mainstream success.

On occasion however, the charts can provide surprising insight into a label’s marketing strategy or lack there of. Take the cases of Ghostface Killah and E-40: two emcees in their late 30’s who haven’t had a hit in years. In January every indie rag worth spit was busy hyping Ghost’s Fishscale album, heaping (justified) praise on the Wu member’s latest opus. E-40 meanwhile, got little to no attention outside of the occasional blurb alluding to his signing to Lil Jon’s imprint and his involvement with a new “Hyphy” movement out of the Bay Area. Yet half a year later, Fishscale more or less flopped while E-40’s My Ghetto Report Card triumphantly went gold. This begs the question…

What the hell happened? And why did the older, fatter and less marketable E-40 outsell Ghost who had the Def Jam machine behind him?

Disclaimer: I’ll only be looking at these records from a marketing perspective. I’m not rating the actual music since I lack proper perspective on E-40’s career. For what it’s worth, I dislike most of the man’s 90’s output but enjoyed in recent releases.

Lead Singles
Ghost’s trouble started with Def Jam’s terrible choice of lead single. While Starks had been promising his fans his rawest album in a minute, Back like That was a huge puzzling non-event that fell flat the minute it leaked to the internet. While the song was a passable MOR attempt at a crossover record, it did nothing to show off Ghostface’s personality and present him to any new fans. Worse, it alienated those who were already familiar with his work leaving a bad taste in their mouths. To Def Jam’s credit, it did break Ne-Yo who benefited from the track’s radio play but as far as Ghost was concerned, his entire project was misrepresented from the get go and after a terrible second week slump in sales, he was denied a crucial second single. For a rapper so reliant on his off-kilter personality, to saddle him with a single that could just as easily have gone to Lloyd Banks or Fabolous was record-industry suicide. While interviews lauded his originality and weirdness, his single showed just the opposite proving an incredible lack of coordination on the part of Def Jam.

E-40 meanwhile took the opposite route, playing to his core audience while using the resources at his disposal to gain new fans. Tell me when to go shrewdly merged Lil Jon’s minimalist stomp with Hyphy flows and slang. While benefiting from the King of Crunk’s name value, the single managed to authentically show off E-40’s unconventional rhymes and aesthetic to the world, catching the ears of both Bay Area AND southern DJs. The song quickly caught on in clubs from Oakland to Savannah and soon after, remixes featuring mainstream names like Kanye West hit radio certifying the song as an authentic national hit. Comparatively, Ghost’s Kanye aided remix literally replaced the original on NY radio, again eclipsing the song’s actual star while helping little on a National level. By sticking to his guns, E-40 managed to properly (re)introduce himself to his audience, thus setting up his second, more conventional single U and Dat. A more commercial concession to the strip clubs, the song rode the wave of positive press surrounding the album and gained enough attention to push it to gold and possibly beyond.

Target audience
From the New York Times to Pitchfork every single hipster publication had their money on Ghost, running profiles and cementing his status as the rapper of choice for snarky insiders. The problem is internet savvy publications have internet savvy readers…who download. With a less than appealing lead single, it’s unsurprising that most uncommitted listeners pirated the release rather than risk 15$ on a potentially over hyped album. Additionally, Ghost’s barbs at joke rap group D4L may have solidified his nerd cred, but they didn’t help him gain any southern hip-hop fans, already weary of his true-school aesthetic. Alienating potential listeners may work for omnipresent established acts, but for a hungry veteran trying to rebuild nearly 15 years into his career, it came off as bitter no matter how much the faithful loved it.

E-40 meanwhile stuck to his core, building momentum with his local smash before going for the jugular with his T-Pain assisted re-up. Additionally, his outreach to guests from New York to Texas managed to feel natural rather than pandering thanks to his judicious choice of beats and collaborators. 40’s more organic approach relying on his typically strong core proved to be the key: while NY Times readers may be interested for a minute, they won’t stick around long enough to buy your record.

Regional discrepancies and affiliations
To be fair, New York is in a slump of epic proportions. While Ghost was advertised as the city’s savior, he still couldn’t escape the crippling lack of attention directed towards the five boroughs in 2006. Worse, while Wu-Tang is still a strong brand in the field of music, the album’s mail-in collaborations and lack of unity only reinforced the impression that the legendary unit was all but broken up and that Ghostface’s new team lacked the gritty Rza-based sound that fans wanted. Additionally, the hype surrounding MF Doom’s production credits faded somewhat when it was revealed that most of the beats Ghost chose had been previously used by the Monster Island Czars.

E-40 wasn’t much better off however and still managed to score national shine. For years Northern California has been perpetually ignored and swagger jacked, unable to translate its creative slang and style into major label attention. While never dismal, 40 struggled through poor sales of his Jive released albums for years virtually ignored outside of his hometown and notable southern fanbase. Capitalizing on the rise of a new style of Bay Area music however, the former Charlie Hustle maneuvered himself in a position to not only capture national attention but also redirect it onto his entire city. From the Federation to Too $hort to Keak da Sneak and Turf Talk, My Ghetto Report Card was flooded with Bay Area guests delivering true collaborations. Subsequently, attention for the Bay increased with several local rappers signing record deals. E-40 may not have invented Hyphy, but by assuming a Bun-B like role as the Godfather of the Bay, he assured himself respect and attention as long as the movement lasts.

Other factors
Poorly mixed and seemingly haphazard, the sound quality on Fishscale lacked even basic professionalism as volume levels between Kilo and The Champ split the ears of anyone listening with headphones. And with the internet going nuts after seeing the album’s promotional cover, the softbatch R&B pic attached to the final version felt like a kick in the balls.

Meanwhile, the overall continuity in My Ghetto Report Card’s production was impressive considering the variety of producers. Also, E-40 may not have had a particularly great album cover, but at least it didn’t piss anybody off.

Conclusion
Def Jam fucked up. Royally. By attempting to subvert Ghostface’s album into Ne-Yo promo material and all but ignoring his actual and potential fanbase, Tony Starks was inadvertently presented as a bitter old b-boy making R&B records rather than a wild, out of control rhyme slinger with original styles and dynamic beats.

Warner Bros meanwhile managed to turn E-40 into the ambassador of a whole new movement of music, solidifying his already established southern cred while setting up a variety of Bay Area acts as “the next big thing”. While it remains to be seen if 40 can capitalize on a gold plaque largely supplied by T-Pain and Lil Jon, he’s now in the position to move forward and build on a successful album rather than once again attempt a reintroduction to the mainstream.

It just goes to show, faking the funk is no solution to slumping sales, and even if you’ve got a great album like Ghost, you need to present it to the world in an appealing package. If anyone from Def Jam is reading this, y’all should talk to Jay-Z about hiring me. For the right price, I can even make his shit tighter. See how I subtly snuck that in after claiming that I don’t care about album sales?

Comments for "A tale of two marketing plans"

Good analysis.

They don’t exactly start out on level ground though. The bay area is where all the buzz is because the hyphy attention has been simmering to a boil for a while now. E-40 may have helped it out some but he also has the good fortune of riding the wave.

NY is where the buzz isn’t and I can’t imagine how a vet who already did the revitalizing comeback 3 or 4 albums ago with Supreme Clientelle was going to have a national hit with this album no matter how it was packaged.

— Rafi Oct 9, 01:51 PM
See Rolling Stone would blame the bloggers you blame the label. I’m so glad my girlfriend introduced me to you.

— Mo! Oct 9, 04:06 PM
Word.

Def Jam really fucked up, but the problem ultimately lies with the rap landscape. In my opinion, there is not really a viable single on the Fishscale, at least for the current market. “The Champ” is a great song and has the epic 1st-single feel, but even without the “Laffy Taffy” reference, it wasn’t really going to blow in the South (or anywhere else for that matter).

Mainstream rap has no real interest in narrative songs, unless the songs are detailing a rapper’s phony back-story, so 3 of the best songs on the album ”Shakey Dog,” “Ragu,” and “Big Girl” would not have worked. “Kilo” is too explicit even for the crack rap loving radio. And “Clipse of Doom” and “Underwater” are just too weird.

I probably would have gone with “Jellyfish” (with Raekwon on the 3rd verse), then “The Champ” for his Supreme Clientele era fans, and then pander to the Comicview audience with “Whip You With A Strap” as the 3rd single.

I feel like Ghost has the personality to be a megastar, and if this were 20 years ago, he would be (Ghost is the closest thing to Slick Rick in his prime as we’ll ever see again). The market just doesn’t have that much room for Ghost’s music, no matter how dope it is.

E40 has the same advantage that The Game has: he’s not from NY, which gives him a boost everywhere.

— eauhellzgnaw Oct 9, 04:50 PM
40 was profiled in the nytimes as well

— 510fitz Oct 9, 04:54 PM
so the new york times is a hipster publication now?
overall though, you’re probably right. i still think the champ would have done a lot better than back like that, even if it didn’t really have the potential to be that big. everybody loves a banger and that track is definitely a banger.

— reinhardt Oct 9, 07:37 PM
Call me crazy, but I remember things differently. The “Tell me when to go” video dropped right as youtube was taking off in very early 06. That video was posted on tons of hip-hop blogs. There was also a widespread sentiment among blogs that this was to be NorCal’s turn.

I could go on, but in short, there was a ton of hipster/blog love for E-40 at the time of his album release.

Also, Ne-Yo had already had two big singles by the time that crappy Ghost single dropped.

The main difference between the two albums in terms of sales has to do with the lead singles/videos. You’re stretching on the other things you cite.

— IllWhipPusha Oct 9, 08:18 PM
great exposition. I have a similiar take on Game’s situation. Yet it has little to do with marketing but more to do with Game’s scheme.

RD

— RD Oct 9, 10:21 PM
eh, i think it’s simpler: ghost didn’t have one club banger on his album.

“back like that” is a dope story (ne-yo aside). but outside of the hook, it’s not that danceable. and where could you possibly put it in a lineup of “laffy taffy,” “snap yo fingaz” and “poole palace”?

mainstream hip-hop right now is all about the club song. yeah, i hate snap music too, but i’m the first one to shake my a** to it in the club. “tell me when to go” (yeah, it’s ‘hyphy,’ but work with the point.) makes me bounce every time i hear it. call it the missy/timbaland phenomenon. wack lyrics don’t matter if you got a booty shaking beat.

i think that’s also why lupe fiasco could go wood. the era of head nodding hip-hop is over, especially in the south.

— tiffany Oct 10, 09:55 AM
I like the analysis (and much of the critical comments have some decent points too), but one part stuck in my craw a little bit… Ghostface “True School?” Since when can a record (even a great one) that’s predominantly about blow be considered true school?

— Kerry Oct 10, 11:38 AM
Kerry: I don’t know why not, but Sach never even uses the phrase “true school” in that entire post so I’m not sure where you got that.

— David Oct 10, 12:20 PM
David, you probably missed it with the hyphen:

“Ghost’s barbs at joke rap group D4L may have solidified his nerd cred, but they didn’t help him gain any southern hip-hop fans, already weary of his true-school aesthetic.”

Now as to whether a record about blow can be considered true school, lets ask Melle Mel and Rammellzee what they think.

— Rafi Oct 10, 12:25 PM
the point isn’t whether or not records about coke are true school or not. The point is that in the minds of many D4L fans, Ghost isn’t “spittin that hot shit son”. Whether you like D4L and their fans or not, it’s alienating them isn’t necessarily a great way to sell records.

then again, it’s not as if I didn’t bug out at that line on The Champ.

— Sach Oct 10, 01:54 PM
http://www.buzzgrinder.com/2006/ghostface-killah-vs-e-40-not-a-conventional-beef/
“Sacha Orenstein at Oh Word gives a little insight into the importance of marketing and rump-shakability in hip hop. Sacha picks apart the marketing strategies of Fishscale from Ghostface Killah and My Ghetto Report Card from E-40, asking:
‘What the hell happened? And why did the older, fatter and less marketable E-40 outsell Ghost who had the Def Jam machine behind him?’
Orenstein then does a pretty good job of giving us an answer.”

— Buzzgrinder.com Oct 10, 06:33 PM
“mainstream hip-hop right now is all about the club song. yeah, i hate snap music too, but i’m the first one to shake my a** to it in the club. “tell me when to go” (yeah, it’s ‘hyphy,’ but work with the point.) makes me bounce every time i hear it. call it the missy/timbaland phenomenon. wack lyrics don’t matter if you got a booty shaking beat.”

You gotta love trenchant, original analysis.

— R.H.S. Oct 10, 07:29 PM
this isn’t that complicated…Ghost was marketed poorly, but let’s not act like E-40’s gold plaque a year later is a huge success. Report Card was a bloated mess.

— noixe Oct 10, 08:23 PM
Good post, but I just have a few things to comment on.

1. I never had the feeling that E-40’s album was a huge success, nor that Ghostface’s was a disastrous failure. Sure, you don’t care about Soundscan, but in this case you should give us the figures of both album, or else the whole story is irrelevant.

2. You compare Fishscale second single to Ghetto Report Card first… Have you forgotten “Be Easy” ? Truth be told, most people have but both album had a street single for their core audience, and then a crappy r&b song for radio.

3. “most uncommitted listeners pirated the release rather than risk 15$ on a potentially over hyped album.”
Actually Fishscale had a retail price of 7$ for the first few weeks (that’s the reason why it reach the #1 spot in the Billboard, imho).

— SLurg Oct 11, 10:07 AM
SLurg:
I don’t have the numbers on Fishscale, but I remember it was certainly well below 300K when it fell out of the top 200 billboard (somewhere around 220-240K, just like his last two). It also didn’t debut at #1 billboard. It only did like 77K its first week. That would have put it at like #9 or something, even in March in a bad year. According to Wikipedia Be Easy charted, but it didn’t even have a video. It was a “pure” street single, so it does not compare to E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go”, which had a video within weeks of its release even though it was released well in advance of the album. Besides, “U And Dat” may have been a crappy R&B song but it was a booty-shaker, which is a lot different from a ballad.

E-40 is at 197 on the billboard charts right now after a week longer on the charts than Fishscale (both were released in March). E-40 has scanned 448,604 copies to date. Not a huge success, but it’s double the sales of his last few albums.

— David Oct 11, 12:36 PM
E-40 and Ghost have one thing in common above all else – a core audience that will buy their albums with or without any radio or video airplay. FWIW though it certainly seems like E-40 got the better publicity of the two and his songs are a lot heavier in rotation even on satellite radio services like XM.

— DJ Flash Oct 11, 04:54 PM
Ultimately, Fishscale wasn’t a very good record.

I think the hype was there, I think the indie community liked the idea of getting behind the record and giving it good reviews—Ghost is considered “hip” to like.

But from a hip-hop standpoint, it was just mediocre. The Theodore Unit album was much better, and more of what I expected from Fishscale. There are too many tracks to really focus, the skits really mess the sequencing and flow up, and just generally trying too hard to please everyone.

Just my opinion.

The J

— The J Oct 12, 04:23 PM
Man i dont even watch Rap City anymore due to the sugar coated, water down, fake, cartoon rap being hyped up by the music industry these days. These young and new school cats are too brain washed by the bling bling, rump shake, car showing, B.S rap. What about the back in the day hip hop that was about real life and the struggle that got you young chumps the bling and college funding? huh? Thats real talk. Hip Hop was way better back in the days because cats were out to make a deep statement way deeper then some dance or some bling. Bottom line is, if you dont have the talent you should not be frunting. But the hip hop music industry these days are all about B.S, gimmicks,and using the old, sex sales trick to get record sales. And that is what takes the place of most true talent in hip hop these days. Check out some real M.Cs from the 1980 and 90s era and compare that to todays no talent rap.

— Mr.Goodness Oct 21, 01:01 AM
Word Up!

— Mr Goodness Jan 26, 08:40 AM
Yeah

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